Model:Tracktion
3
The fastest way to create professional music on Mac or
PCIf you like
sifting through endless menus and windows to make music, Tracktion
3 is not for you. Based on a simple, single-screen interface,
Tracktion is the fast, powerful, complete solution for turning your
ideas into finished songs. And unlike the competition, Tracktion 3
comes with all the power and plug-ins you'll ever need. So if you
want to keep your music flowing--not locked in menus or
limitations—you've come to the right place.

Composition is the
first part of the music-making process, and it’s also the
most important. If you’re like many musicians, you
don’t want your audio software to simply document your
performances; you also want it to inspire them. So we made sure
T3’s interface served up everything you needed to get your
creative juices flowing, right at your fingertips.

LOOP
BROWSER
Tracktion 3’s integrated Loop Browser is possibly the most
obvious difference between this and previous versions of Tracktion.
This Loop Browser is a big time-saver when you’re writing
music. It lets you pull up a massive variety of pre-recorded music
loops in the widest possible range of file formats, including
Recycle, Apple Loops and Acid. The Loop Browser pre-organizes these
loops by “instruments”, “genres” and
“descriptors” (single, ensemble, part, fill, acoustic,
etc.). You can further narrow by “key” (major, minor,
both, neither), and finally via a “search” field where
you can type in keywords. So you just narrow your search, then
click through the loops to audition them. Once you find the loop
you like, drag it into the Arrange Window. To get you started, both
the Tracktion 3 Project and Ultimate Bundles include hundreds of
ultra high-quality loops in a variety of styles from Sonic Reality.
And you can find many, many more on commercially available loop CDs
and on the Internet. You can even create your own loops and make
them searchable for easy finding in the future.

TIME
STRETCHING / PITCH SHIFTING
At first, Time Stretching and Pitch Shifting may seem a bit out of
place in a section on “Composition.” But that’s
only until you use these powerful tools in action. In the case of
Tracktion 3’s new high-quality Time Stretching, it lets you
radically adjust the tempo of various loops and samples - or even
your own recorded tracks - and bring them into your current
creation with superb results. Pitch Shifting lets you put
instruments and samples that were originally played in other keys
into your song, making it sound as if they were played expressly
for your current creation. Imagine taking an old ballad vocal and
time stretching it up 20 beats per minute for your new dance track.
Or getting your drummer to play that song 10 beats per minute
slower - without ever having to talk to him, of course. With
built-in Time Stretching and Pitch Shifting, it’s that
easy.

VIRTUAL
INSTRUMENTS
It used to be that recording musicians were limited to the actual
instruments that they and their friends owned. No longer. The
amount and quality of virtual instruments on the market today is
staggering. And Tracktion 3, of course, gives you some of the cream
of the crop. Imagine auditioning over 200 different simulated
analog synth sounds to find just the right one. Or dozens of
pianos... or thousands of drums... You get the picture. It’s
like having a warehouse full of both popular and ultra-obscure,
well-recorded, instruments - literally a few clicks away. Just
connect a MIDI keyboard and play away. Both Tracktion 3 Project
Bundle and Ultimate Bundle give you top offerings like SampleTank,
DrumCore, Garritan Personal Orchestra, Native Instruments Kontakt
2Player, LinPlug Alpha 3 Classic Synth and Cronox 3 Sample Synth,
the RM IV Drum Addiction, and more. (Click here to learn about the
differences between the T3 bundles and the virtual instruments
included with each.)

MIDI
EDITOR
For recording performance information from an external MIDI device
(like a keyboard or sampler), Tracktion 3 features a
powerful-yet-streamlined MIDI editor. This MIDI editor - widely
acclaimed in the previous version of Tracktion - has been optimized
for even greater speed and ease of use, whether you’re
recording frantically from your synth or doing detailed editing of
a performance with the MIDI pencil tool. And like everything
Tracktion, the MIDI editor is a snap to use, so you’ll keep
your composition flowing right along.

REWIRE
Because we realize that many new-school remixers and electronic
music makers absolutely live and die composing in software like
Ableton Live and Reason, Tracktion 3 includes full ReWire 2.0
support for integration with killer applications like these and
other ReWire-supporting software. ReWire is like having an
"invisible cable" that allows you to connect one application to
another so you can stream audio and MIDI to and from the linked
programs. Tracktion acts as a master (or "mixer") application to
which other ReWire slave (or "synth applications") can be linked;
simply enable ReWire in Tracktion, setup a track to receive the
output of the "synth application," launch it, and crank out that
hit to send to Paris Hilton’s ex-boyfriend’s
cousin.

QUICKTIME™ VIDEO
INTEGRATION
For those composing music for video, Tracktion 3 supports QuickTime
video playback. Just select a movie and start tracking - compose
music, add effects, replace your dialog, and win your Oscar®.
This opens up a world of project studio post-production to
Tracktion users. And since both Tracktion and QuickTime are
cross-platform compatible, it's as easy to share video projects as
it is audio.

When it’s time
to dig in and actually record something is when you’ll
realize how different Tracktion 3 is from other audio software. If
you’ve never recorded audio into your computer, you’ll
be amazed at how quickly Tracktion 3 lets you get going - creating
real music within minutes. That’s because unlike most other
music software, which is designed around analog mixer concepts and
routing, Tracktion 3 is truly different. It uses a simple,
single-screen interface for all basic recording and editing
operations - with a property panel that follows your every move,
providing pertinent information for the task at hand.A CLEAN SINGLE-SCREEN INTERFACEThe reason Tracktion 3 is so much faster than
other applications for getting your music down is because its
interface uses a signal-flow paradigm for everything. Inputs are on
the left side of the screen; Audio and MIDI clips are in the
middle. Effects and outputs are on the right. Want to record
something? Just drag the audio or MIDI instrument icon to whatever
track you like and hit Record (using the convenient block of
transport buttons in the lower right-hand corner). Your audio or
MIDI input is then recorded as a “clip” within the
track, and can be edited, moved, copied, pasted, etc., much more
easily than on other systems. Want to record tons of distinct
inputs at once - like say, a full band with backup singers? No
worries. Use the “assign all inputs to consecutive
tracks” shortcut and you’re ready to roll.UNLIMITED TRACK COUNTOne of Tracktion’s biggest conveniences when recording is
simply giving you more recording canvas to work with. That’s
because, unlike many other affordable audio recording programs,
Tracktion 3 places NO predetermined limits on the number of tracks
you can record (or the number of effects you can use). In fact, the
only limitation is your host computer’s innate processing
power. And since Tracktion 3 takes full advantage of dual core/dual
processor CPUs, you’ll finally be rewarded for buying that
screaming new Mac or PC - you know, the one that you’ll be
paying off for the next four years.SAFE RECORDEver have
an assistant accidentally stop your live recording as he went to
play solitaire? Or has your cat ever walked across your keyboard to
ruin your perfect take? Never again. In the category of “Why
didn’t someone think of this sooner?”, Tracktion 3
introduces Safe Recording. With this feature enabled, recording
doesn’t stop until you enter a customizable key command. No
more babysitting live recordings at the club gig; just start it
rolling and ignore until the third encore is (finally)
over.

LOOP RECORDING
Got a client who can't sing their way out of a wet paper bag? Or
perhaps an overzealous lead guitar player? A white rapper? No
problem. In addition to normal recording mode and punch-in mode,
Tracktion includes "Loop Record Mode" which makes it easy to record
multiple passes of audio or MIDI and compile the best of each into
the perfect take.

64-BIT, 192KHZ-CAPABLE MIX ENGINE
On a technical note, when recording, Tracktion 3 also sounds better
than competing audio software. That’s thanks to a
High-Definition 64-bit Math mixing option, which improves headroom
and eliminates distortion through the summing bus. This feature
goes a long way to guaranteeing that the only distortion in your
tracks is what you put there - on purpose. Additionally, Tracktion
3 comes ready for 192kHz-compatible audio interfaces like the Onyx
1200F, and Onyx 400F - giving you the ultimate in high-definition
digital audio.

Once tracks have
been recorded, it's time to see if they cut the mustard.
Thankfully, Tracktion 3 has some of the best mustard-cutting
technology out there. That's because Tracktion's editing power is
as good as or better than software costing hundreds of dollars
more, yet it retains Tracktion's hallmark ease of use. As with most
non-destructive editing software, Tracktion's editing allows you to
"undo" and "redo" your edits to your heart's content - so there's
never any fear of messing up your song. Explore some of Tracktion
3's various editing tools here.

THE TIME
LINE
For the uninitiated, a time-line provides a series of time
divisions against which you can arrange the components and sections
of your song, in terms of bars/beats, seconds/milliseconds, or
seconds/frames. The In/Out markers are the ways you define a
section of an edit to be played in Loop mode. This is how you tell
Tracktion what portion of your song you'll be editing.

AUDIO
CLIPS
Once you've recorded or imported audio into Tracktion, it is
presented in the arrange window as an audio clip. These clips
provide tools for editing them right at the top of each clip, so
you don't have to go looking for a separate button to cut or fade
your clip from somewhere else on the screen. The squares in the
center are used to slide the clip and its contents around while the
arrows at either end are for adjusting the overall size of the
clip. As a great time saver, every audio clip also has a built-in
control for volume fades, performed by dragging the small square
with the diagonal line through it to the appropriate Fade In or
Fade Out point. To monitor what you're editing, simply double-click
the clip, which will cause it to play back; dragging the play head
across the clip will allow you to "scrub" it. And with the new
Hover Editing in T3, we've sped up the process even further. Just
mouse over a clip and click and drag the editing tools that
appear.

MIDI
EDITOR
The tools for working with MIDI clips are basically the same as
those for audio clips. But, when MIDI clips are of sufficient size,
they display a powerful "piano roll" style editor - with horizontal
"lanes" that correspond to the note on the piano keyboard at left.
As you can see, this editor also has tools built into the top of
it, including: a "pencil" tool for drawing specific notes; an
"eraser" tool for deleting notes (i.e., fixing mistakes); a
"select" tool for moving and resizing notes; and a "line" tool for
drawing lines of MIDI notes, controllers and velocity ramps.
Tracktion 3's MIDI editor of course allows for Step Entry mode, as
well as providing powerful quantizing features, creating and
applying groove templates, and more.

T3 EDITING
ENHANCEMENTS
New to Tracktion 3 are a host of editing enhancements. Folder
Tracks allow hiding and showing of groups of tracks in an edit,
with support for nested folders. This feature is used in concert
with new Collection Clips, which lets you edit all folder contents
at once. As a practical example of this, imagine lowering the
volume or changing the panning of every element in a rhythm
section, without having to go in and select each individual drum
and bass sound - a huge time-saver!

A new Marker Track allows display of all your markers in the edit.
But Tracktion's markers are special in that you can treat them as
clips, much like audio and MIDI. So you can move them around,
split, stretch and edit them. Name and color them as needed to
identify different sections of your song. And store and recall them
using lightning fast key commands.

Mixing, of course,
is the art of leveling, panning, EQing, adding effects, and
otherwise accentuating individual sounds and instruments to get
your song to sound just right. Most audio software accomplishes
this through the use of a dedicated "mixer" screen, which mirrors
the faders and knobs of a traditional analog mixer. Tracktion,
however, has never had - or needed - a dedicated mixer screen,
because its users are actually "mixing" their songs throughout the
recording process. This is really the genius of Tracktion, and one
we'll explore a bit here.

FILTERS
When a track is first created in Tracktion, it comes with a
volume/pan filter and a level meter filter, located to the right of
the arrange window. These filters are used for setting panning and
levels much the same way you would with a knob and fader control on
a conventional mixer screen - yet they are infinitely more useful
because they can be copied, re-arranged, and applied to individual
audio clips, groups of tracks, and more. Nor are filters limited to
level and panning; in Tracktion, the term "filter" applies to any
effect, native or third party plug-in, virtual instrument, or
anything else you want to throw at your song. New filters can be
created with ease, or deleted if they are not being used.

EFFECTS
PLUG-INS
Tracktion 3 comes with a full-suite of native effects plug-ins
ranging from dynamics to modulation, reverb and more. But it also
supports commercially available third party VST and VSTi plug-ins,
and comes with a staggering collection of them in both the Ultimate
and Project Bundles. These plug-ins are available as filters to
place on any track, group of tracks, individual audio clips, or on
groups of audio clips. You can even place them across your entire
mix (i.e., in the case of that killer compressor that squashes your
song just right). Here's the rundown of what's available to you,
right out of the box.

Simply drag and drop the "A" from a track on to any filter. A list
of automatable parameters will be shown. Once you choose a
parameter, its associated automation curve will be shown on the
track. To change the curve, click and a node appears to get the
desired parameter to automate the way you want it to over time.
Alternately, enable Automation Record to make changes to a filter
as Tracktion plays. Your moves are captured and can be edited
further until the mix is perfect.

RACK
FILTERS
Rack filters allow for the simple creation of complex instrument
and effects combinations. They are so named because they allow you
to combine filters together and use them as a group - just as you
would a rack of effects processors. A rack filter can be applied to
a single track or many tracks, processing them simultaneously. With
rack filters you can create totally unique effects and instruments
combinations, unattainable with conventional mixer-based audio
software. And they're also great for recalling complex sets of
effects - say a killer female vocal sound with EQ, two types of
compression and reverb - without having to go through and call up
all the individual plug-ins, one by one.

TRACK
FREEZING
What with Tracktion being so fun and easy to use, one could
possibly create so many tracks, effects, and virtual instruments,
that even the hardiest of computers could choke on all the action.
So Tracktion includes a Track Freeze function that renders single
and multiple tracks with all their assorted audio files, effects
and instruments to a single file on the hard disk. This frees up
the computer's CPU for important tasks - like creating more
tracks!

CONTROL
SURFACE SUPPORT
Tracktion 3 offers improved support for the uber-popular Mackie
Control Universal/Extender Pro and Mackie Control C4 Pro
controllers, providing complete hands-on control of a full range of
recording and mixing parameters - including plug-ins and virtual
instruments. It also supports a wide range of third-party control
surfaces including the Frontier Design Tranzport™ and
Novation ReMOTE LE. In true Tracktion fashion, it's so intuitive
and easy that you'll be enjoying the productivity boost only real
knobs and faders can provide - plus they look wicked on your
desktop.

Once you’ve
recorded and mixed your music, you’ll want to master it to
give it that polished, radio-ready sound. Or you may want to send
it to a trusted musician or producer friend for a second, or third,
opinion. Thankfully, Tracktion 3 lets you easily do both.
Tracktion’s built-in Archiving capabilities let you save and
send your project to other Tracktion users so they can listen,
collaborate, and edit. Of course you can easily export to a variety
of formats such as .wav, .aif, and .mp3 to share with those not yet
part of the Tracktion Collective. And because Tracktion 3 comes
bundled with Mackie’s acclaimed Mixing and Mastering Tools,
you can rest assured that the final music will rock as hard - or as
soft - as you like.MACKIE MIXING AND MASTERING
TOOLS
Mackie Mixing and Mastering Tools comprise a suite of powerful
mixing and mastering plug-ins for Tracktion 3. Whether it’s
fattening up the final mix with the aptly named Final Mix, or just
adding a bit of dimension, these top-notch tools will let you do it
intuitively, with results rivaling those snooty plug-in suites
costing thousands of dollars a set.

Final
Mix
Final Mix enables you to master your sessions like a pro, printing
directly to hard disk or DAT, without having to rely on expensive
mastering houses or outboard gear. Final Mix can dramatically
elevate the quality of your mixes and help you to create your own
professional masters.

6-Band Mono &
Stereo Multi-Mode EQs
If you need additional EQ in your Tracktion project, the mono and
stereo multi-mode EQs are the answer. Each provides 6-bands of
frequency, gain and "Q" control with parametric and shelf mode
selection for ultimate control. Bands 1 and 6 even offer high- and
low-pass filter modes, respectively. Dedicated input and output
meters let you keep levels in check while you dial in sweet tone to
your heart's content.

Mono & Stereo
Compressors
Use the mono and stereo compressor plug-ins to make vocals ride
comfortably on top of the mix, achieve perfectly ambient,
classic-sounding drums, punch up your bass guitar track, or for
punching up the final mix to your heart’s content.
Comprehensive controls include input trim, threshold, attack and
release times, ratio, and output gain. Their intuitive graphic
interfaces clearly display compressor settings, input and output
meters, and overall gain reduction.

Studio
Reverb
Simulate the effect of playing in a small garage with a concrete
floor, or pretend you're the headliner at a concert hall with the
great-sounding Stereo Reverberation plug-in. Control features
include an independent input trim, stereo/mono blend, pre-delay,
room size selection, decay, damping, diffusion, roll off, dry gain,
output gain, and metering. Complete with a three-band EQ and a
slick graphic user interface.

Stereo
Panner Plus
The Stereo Panner Plus plug-in goes far beyond the standard balance
stereo pan pot. Boldly use it for Tremolo, Vibrato and Rotary
Cabinet effects, or get totally crazy with AutoPan and modulate the
stereo panning via an independent multi-wave LFO. Or sync the
AutoPan to MIDI clock for hands-free, tempo appropriate panning
effects. You can even choose any point in the stereo field as the
cycle starting point. Tons of fun, this plug-in lets you
"get-your-tweak-on" to produce a virtually infinite number of
interesting audible sensations.

TRACKTION ARCHIVING
AND FILE EXPORTING
Tracktion can create archives that bundle a project file, edit(s),
and all related audio/MIDI/video materials into a single file or
folder. Archives are convenient for backing up your important work
and for transferring projects between computers, or for
collaborating with other Tracktion users. Tracktion archives can
utilize non-destructive FLAC compression or file- shrinking 16:1
OGG compression. Both are specifically developed for reducing file
size while retaining audio quality. With them, you can turn an
entire song into a tiny archive, great for collaboration and file
transfer via the Internet(s)*.

Finally, Tracktion allows you to save your audio files, songs, and
even your final work in a variety of compressed and uncompressed
audio formats such as broadcast wav, w64, aiff, or the ever-popular
mp3.

* Sorry, couldn’t resist. Don’t get it? Use The Google.
We kill ourselves. We really do.